Business services are becoming more dependent on electronic transactions in relation to traditional bricks-and-mortar transactions. This is underscored by the fact that, as of 2013, on-line banking accounted for 53% of banking transactions, compared with 14% for in-branch bank visits. There is no question that there is a long-term shift from the role of branch locations to the importance of electronic transactions. Moreover, this trend is similar in relation to other types of businesses involved in retailing, business-to-business (B2B), health, education, government, manufacturing, and the like.
Electronic transactions are often supported by one or more customer channels via the Internet or wireless telephony. In order to consummate an electronic transaction, electronic authentication of the purported customer is typically required, where a level of confidence is established through the authentication process. Authentication often begins with registration. The customer is then issued a secret (which may be referred as a token) and a credential that binds the token to a name and possibly other verified attributes. The token and credential may be used in the authentication process for subsequent electronic transactions. Hence, any enhancement to electronic authentication that increases robustness while being transparent to the customer would be beneficial to businesses that depend on electronic transactions.